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Decoy [working proof]

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Medium

color lithograph with additions in crayon, wash, color pencil, paint and chalk on Rives BFK paper [working proof]

Dimensions

sheet: 105.1 x 74.9 cm (41 3/8 x 29 1/2 in.)

Classification

Print

Department

CG-W

Museum

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Credit

Patrons' Permanent Fund and Special Friends of the National Gallery of Art

Accession Number

2006.136.9

Art Historical Context

Jasper Johns' *Decoy [working proof (1971) offers a captivating glimpse into the artist's meticulous printmaking process. Created as a color lithograph on luxurious Rives BFK paper this working proof measures .1 x 74.9 cm and features Johns' hand-applied additions in crayon wash, color pencil, paint and chalk. These spontaneous layers transform the proof from a mere trial into a unique hybrid work, blurring the boundaries between print and painting—a hallmark of Johns' innovative approach. Johns, a pivotal figure mid-20th-century American, bridged Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art with his i...

About the Artist

Jasper Johns

Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker whose revolutionary work fundamentally transformed the trajectory of postwar American art. Emerging in the 1950s when Abstract Expressionism dominated the New York art world, Johns introduced a radically different approach by painting familiar, everyday symbols—flags, targets, numbers, and maps—that he des...

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